Help ... don't know what I am doing

[pjellen]

I bought chicks from the local tractor supply last April. I have 4 hens .. 3 rir and I'm not sure of the 4th. She is white and that's all i know. The white one went broody. We hoped she would come out of it, but she didn't. I bought fertile eggs from a local person. She has sat on then for 20 days. They started hatching today. When we came home from church there was one fully hatched chick that was dead in her nest. No shell was found. I decided to let her hatch the other eggs. Went out 4 hours later and another dead chick and the mama was eating the shell. I brought the rest of the eggs in the house. I know I wasnt supposed to move the eggs, but I had to do something. I placed them on a towel in a box with a heating pad and wet sponge. Two have hatched in the last 4 hours. They seem to be ok. There are 2 other eggs that have little cracks. Am I doing the right thing? I am so worried they aren't going to survive.

 

[chickencheeper]

The two other eggs are just starting to pip(hatch)

 

[junebuggena]

Momma may be a bit overly curious and 'helping' the chicks along by pecking away the shells. Doing this before the blood vessels have fully receded will kill the chick.
This is something that can happen with first time broodies. You should be able to slip the successfully hatched chicks under her in the evening and she should accept them without issues.

 

[Laodicia]

I bought chicks from the local tractor supply last April. I have 4 hens .. 3 rir and I'm not sure of the 4th. She is white and that's all i know. The white one went broody. We hoped she would come out of it, but she didn't. I bought fertile eggs from a local person. She has sat on then for 20 days. They started hatching today. When we came home from church there was one fully hatched chick that was dead in her nest. No shell was found. I decided to let her hatch the other eggs. Went out 4 hours later and another dead chick and the mama was eating the shell. I brought the rest of the eggs in the house. I know I wasnt supposed to move the eggs, but I had to do something. I placed them on a towel in a box with a heating pad and wet sponge. Two have hatched in the last 4 hours. They seem to be ok. There are 2 other eggs that have little cracks. Am I doing the right thing? I am so worried they aren't going to survive.

wow impressed you got them to hatch that way. most likely the first time momma didn't get that she would have to lift her weight up a bit for the new babies and crushed them. It happens. the new babys should be fine. food and water can wait a couple days but i always offer it as soon as i have them out of the incubator, just be sure that while they are still dozing off while walking that the water isnt so deep as to drown in. Babies are so exciting!

 

[pjellen]

Since I posted I've had another one to break through. It is so hard to not check on them. I'm afraid to place the live ones under her. She was so agitated when I took the eggs away that I put some fake eggs in her box and she calmed down and is sitting on them. The heating pad is not reachung 100 degrees. It is going to be a long night. Thanks for the info.

 

[OHWVKY]

Walmart sells heat lamps. Time to run and get one. Good job saving the babies.

 

[Seven Tree Beefmasters]

If any of you have ever had dirty eggs and had to throw them away because you can't wash them off before you put them in a incubator, I done a expierment and washed off some very dirty eggs a friend gave me and then I wiped them down with egg white and let them dry and put them in the incubator and it worked just fine, I have embryos in them now.

 

[tuesdaze]

If any of you have ever had dirty eggs and had to throw them away because you can't wash them off before you put them in a incubator, I done a expierment and washed off some very dirty eggs a friend gave me and then I wiped them down with egg white and let them dry and put them in the incubator and it worked just fine, I have embryos in them now.

You should start a new thread for this! I, for one, would love it if you could keep us updated about how this hatch is going and how many chicks you end up with. I have read a lot of info about washing eggs vs not washing eggs, but this is the first I've heard about coating the eggs with egg whites after washing. I'm curious about the success rate.

 

[junebuggena]

Since I posted I've had another one to break through. It is so hard to not check on them. I'm afraid to place the live ones under her. She was so agitated when I took the eggs away that I put some fake eggs in her box and she calmed down and is sitting on them. The heating pad is not reachung 100 degrees. It is going to be a long night. Thanks for the info.

The heating pad should be able to keep them warm enough. Chicks that far along in incubation actually produce some of their own body heat, so temps a bit lower than ideal are fine. The main thing is to keep their environment humid.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

It sounds like you have really good instincts on what to do.

I've never hatched eggs before. Please do keep us posted.